Other Side of the Mirror
by La spina fra i lilla
Summary: Raven takes a wrong turn on her way home and finds herself stuck in a very strange world. Will she be able to return home, or has she found her happily ever after at Monster High?
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1

Mirror travel was the worst. Raven stumbled as the mirror spat her out at her destination. She waited for her stomach to settle, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. For one brief second the traitorous thought that it wasn't worth it for one week of vacation at home crossed her mind.

But she had missed her dad something awful and as Dorothy would say, 'There's no place like home." Speaking of which, someone should have greeted her by now.

Her stomach finally stopped rolling and twisting and she opened her eyes. This wasn't her castle. In fact, she appeared to be in a store room. A very crowded store room. A very dark, crowded store room.

There were boxes and crates covered in dust and stacked on top of each other. Cabinets that looked like they hadn't been touched in years, their glass doors coated in a layer of grime so thick it distorted the contents. There were trinkets and knick knacks scattered all over the place.

She turned around and looked at the travel mirror she had just come through. It gave a small shiver and the faint glow of magic sputtered out. The mirror itself seemed to have fared better than the rest of the room if only because of the sheet that had apparently been covering it before her arrival had ripped it off.

Well, with the mirror down for the time being she wasn't going to be able to go back. She'd just have to go back to the office and explain what happened. Maybe the headmaster would let her use a coach to go home, just this once. If for no other reason than to be rid of her for a week.

Of course, she first had to maneuver herself out of the room. Given how full it was, that was going to be easier said then done. Raven turned and twisted herself through the towers of crates, slipped past one cabinet only to crash into another. A box fell off the top, hitting the ground and popping open.

"Curses."

Wincing at the noise, Raven picked up the box. Inside was a vial with clear liquid that was held in place by straps and a thick sponge like padding. She shrugged, glad it hadn't broken and closed the lid. In the little light that came from a few magical items here and there, she could make out a note taped to the box lid just under a metal engraving.

H1-D3 said the engraving. Extremely dangerous said the note.

She tensed and thanked every legend she could that it hadn't broke open as she put it back on the top of the cabinet. She shivered, feeling as though she had just dodged a really nasty curse.

Raven managed to find the door with only one more near disaster, but the statue she caught before it shattered hadn't had any warnings on it, for which she was grateful. The door, however, was either locked or stuck. She was just considering attempting magic to open it, when it finally gave way, spilling her onto the floor.

Right before she hit the ground she heard a startled shout and saw a brief glimpse of a surprised face wearing black glasses. She had slammed into someone, taking them down with her.

Raven groaned as she lifted herself up. She nervously brushed off the dust from the storeroom that clung to her dress as she began to apologize.

"I'm am so sorry Dex, I didn't mean to fall on...you?" She blinked at the boy on the floor as she held out her hand to help him up. He wore glasses and had a slight beginning of a tan, but that was were the similarity ended. He was thinner than Dexter, his hair was darker with yellow tips and though the smile he gave her as he stood was certainly charming, it's wasn't a _Charming_ smile.

"You're not Dexter," she said lamely.

"Nope," the boy said, picking up the book he had dropped, "I'm Jackson."

"Oh, which Jack's son? Jack Horner? Jack beNimble? Jack and Jill? Jack and the Bean Stalk? Jack who built..."

"Ah, no." he said, cutting off her recitation of every Jack she could think of. "That's my name. Jackson. Jackson Jekyll."

"I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that one," Raven began, desperately trying to remember any fable, tale, or story with the name Jekyll. Jackson gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Maybe the mirror had sent her to a village school. That would explain it. The boy didn't have a legacy. But this was worse then being stuck at Ever After High, now she had no idea where she was.

"Where am I?" She asked. Looking around the hall for the first time, taking in the odd checkered floors and the magenta walls.

"This is the supply hall." he said. Then, "You must be lost. That's easy to do for new students. Monster High is pretty big. What class do you have? I can take you there."

Raven's breath caught in her throat. She had never heard of that school before. Ever. And she had looked into every possible alternate high school in Ever After. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration and that's when she finally noticed her next big problem. She had turned green.

Her worry must have shown on her face because the boy, Jackson, frowned and asked if she was alright. No, no she wasn't alright.

"Oh curses," she said, staring at her hands in horror. "Where and what exactly is Monster High?"

Now Jackson looked really worried. "It's in Salem, Oregon. It's a school for all types of monsters," he said, hesitantly.

Raven gulped. There was no such place that she new of. What had the mirror done to her and where had it taken her?

RQ

Raven sat stiffly on the bed in the nurses office, staring at the nurse out of the corner of her eye nervously. The young woman seemed pleasant enough, but it was the stitches that had Raven on edge. The light blue girl looked like she had been sewn together.

She wasn't really sure what she had been expecting really. Jackson had told her it was a school for monsters, but he had seemed so, well, unmonster-like that she thought maybe he had meant it figuratively. Clearly, he hadn't. Now she was alone with a strange looking woman, in a strange looking place with no one or thing that was even remotely familiar.

Jackson had explained that she had been lucky he found her. He had the period as a free time and was using it for some personal research and that was why he was in the hall when she arrived. Right now though he wasn't there. He had taken off to get the headmistress after she had told him she belonged to another world.

Raven kind of wished he hadn't left. She felt so awkward now and he had been at least friendly. The nurse had simply taken her vitals, asked a few questions and was now making notes in a file, completely ignoring her when it was established that she was unhurt.

The door to the office opened. She heard a woman's voice and turned to speak with the schools headmistress, hoping she was more understanding than Headmaster Grimm.

However all that came out of her mouth was a horrified scream and she scrambled back onto the bed, bumping up against the back wall.

The woman was carrying her own decapitated head in her arms.

Jackson was quick to come to her side. "It's okay. It's okay. This is Headless Headmistress Bloodgood."

"How is she headless and still talking? Is it some kind of curse?" She asked Jackson. The boy just shook his head and smiled.

"It's not a curse, young lady," the headmistress said, a deep sigh coming from her as she put her head back on her shoulders. "I'm a Dullahan. Our heads tend not to be attached quite as well as other monster's. I'm sorry to have frightened you..." She trailed off, waiting for an introduction.

"Raven Queen," Raven said, still leaning away from the headless woman, but considerably calmer. At least Jackson didn't seem worried in the slightest, so it was probably alright.

"Oh Headmistress," said the nurse. "I've given her a bit of a check up and everything seems okay. But she insists she's not suppose to be green." The last part the nurse whispered, but Raven still heard it.

The headmistress nodded, "I'll take it from here," she said before focusing on Raven again. "Jackson says you told him you're from another world. How did you get here?"

Raven relaxed as she realized the woman believed her and was genuinely listening to her.

"I'm not sure myself. I was using the magic mirror to go home for a holiday and somehow ended up in your storeroom."

"Oh dear. That's definitely not good. The only mirror portal we have has been inactive for over fifty years. I don't know if it would be safe to send you back through it just yet. It'll have to be checked over before we try to even contact anyone from your world. Which world exactly is it you're from?"

"I'm from the world of Ever After."

"Ah, the land of fairy tales and legends. We had a student recently transfer there. You're a witch, are you not? It shouldn't be too hard for you fit in here while we see to that mirror. "

"You'll really help me?" Raven asked in relief. She was so happy the headmistress believed her, she didn't even question how she knew Raven was a witch.

"Well of course we'll help," Bloodgood said, taking off her head, seemingly without thought. "We may be Monsters, but we aren't cruel. How would you like to attend classes here until we find a way to get you home? We could set you up in the dorms and it'll be easier to keep you informed of the progress, rather than sending you to a temporary home."

Raven thought about it, a bit unsure and still a little creeped out by the whole removable head thing.

Jackson smiled at her from his seat next to her on the bed. "It'll be fun. I can show you around and introduce to some of my friends. You'll like them, especially Frankie. She'd love to hear all about your world, I'm sure."

The promise of new friends was enticing as it suddenly occurred to her that no one here knew who she was, who her mother was, and who she was suppose to be just yet. Maybe, if she played her cards just right, to steal one of Lizzie's phrases, she could have a vacation free from the pressures of her refuted destiny. And maybe she'd even make a few new friends in the process.

"Headmistress, I'd love to." Raven said, a big smile on her face.

RQ

Raven organized the last of her new books in her new locker. At first she was a bit leery when she saw they were all shaped like coffins, but they proved to actually be roomier then the lockers back at her school, so she just went with it.

Headmistress Bloodgood had signed her up for several classes that were comparable to the ones she had at Ever After. There were a couple for magic users that didn't sound half bad, nothing like her evil classes back home and there was even a music class which the headmistress had been more than happy to let her go to. Jackson had been kind enough to show to the library, which he pronounced in a way that sounded like 'lie-bury' but she kept her mouth shut about it, for her books and had helped her find her locker.

The bell to end classes had sounded while they were getting her books, but he didn't seem worried about missing class.

"Oh, it's lunch time. No big deal," he said when she questioned him about it. "If you ever talk to Holt, and I'm sure you will, don't mention it to him. He'll be pissed if he finds out I get to go to lunch right after a free period." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand as he led her down the hall.

"Is that your brother?" She asked. He stopped walking and became very tense. The look on his face was shocked astonishment. Like a dragon had just run up to him and smacked him the face with a wet sponge. She might have been spending a bit too much time with the Wonderlandians.

"I've never thought of it that way before," he said. Then after a moment were he made a few more weird faces, he shrugged. "Sort of, but not really. Stick around long enough and I'm sure you'll see for yourself. It's kind of hard to explain what we are."

"Okay," she said, starting to see that he was becoming uncomfortable with the line of questioning. "Is this the castleteria?" She said, changing the subject.

"Creepateria," he corrected her. "and yes. Before we go in though, I should warn you. The students here are, different, looking. Most of them are really nice, just try not to scream like you did earlier."

She blushed and was once again thankful that Headmistress, _Headless_ Headmistress, Bloodgood was so understanding.

Jackson pushed open the door and held it for her. What she saw took her breath away.

There were people of every shape and size and color imaginable. Some had fur, some had feathers, some had scales or wings or both. There were pink people and blue people and purple people. One boy in front of her in the lunch line disappeared right before her eyes, leaving his tray floating in mid air. There were people with two heads, a girl with three eyes, and what she assumed was a boy, whose head was nothing but a giant eye.

Jackson taped her on the shoulder and gesture for her to follow him to a table were a girl wrapped in bandages was talking animatedly to another stitched girl. Next to the first girl was a boy with snakes for hair who had an arm draped around her while he fed her in between gossip and eating his own food.

"I mean, can you believe the nerve of that Toralei. I've never been so insulted in all my unlife," the girl finished dramatically just as Raven and Jackson got there.

The stitched girl perked up and smiled cheerfully, a spark coming from the bolts in her neck. "Oh Jackson, there you are. I saved you a seat." Then she noticed Raven and her smile faltered a little as she looked back and forth between them. "Who's this?" She asked, a faint quiver in her voice.

"This is Raven. She, uh, just transferred here. The headmistress asked me to show her around," Jackson said. The girl instantly lost her insecure expression and smiled winningly at her.

"I'm Frankie, nice to meet you. This is Cleo and Duece," She said pointing to the couple she had been talking to. "Welcome to Monster High. Why don't you join us?" She patted the bench seat next her. Raven was stunned by the instant welcome. She smiled as she took a seat.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." She did too. It was so nice to be instantly accepted instead of people running away from her, she hadn't realized how much she had wanted that until now.

"So, where are you from?" Cleo asked, though she seemed less interested than Frankie. Raven got the feeling she was being sized up, which was mood dampingly familiar.

"Oh, I'm from the world of Ever After. I kind of took a wrong turn in the mirror portal and ended up here." This seemed to peek everyone's attention, even Duece who hadn't even looked at her until then.

"You're from another world? Voltagious. What's it like?" Frankie leaned into Raven's personal space just a bit too much, excitement shining in her eyes and more sparks coming off her. One zapped Raven lightly. It didn't really hurt, but it was enough to frizz some of her hair.

"Oh no," Frankie leaned back quickly. "I am so sorry. We just met and I'm already shocking you. How embarrassing," the girl rambled.

Raven held up her hands to placate her. "It's okay. No harm done. Well, nothing a brush won't fix anyway."

Frankie calmed down, but stayed back a little still. Just in case. Jackson whispered something in her ear that made her blush and she playfully swatted at his arm. "Oh you. It's not like that at all."

"So, Raven, is it? What is this Ever After like? I've never heard of it, do enlighten me." Cleo interrupted.

"Oh, um," Raven nervously tried to think of a way to describe it, without seeming rude. "It's a lot different from this place. For one thing, the people aren't nearly," she trailed off as Beelinda Honeywell buzzed by their table, "so colorful. Is that a bee girl?"

"Yes, do you not have those were you're from?" Frankie asked, wide eyed with wonder.

"No. I mean, we have fairies. And witches obviously, but we aren't green where I'm from. Oh, we also have giants and talking animals and Wolves. But I've never seen a bee girl before. Most of the people are fairly normal looking. Er, that is, most of us look like him." She pointed to Jackson who just nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, Jackson is considered normal here too. Until you get to know him better," Cleo said, idly examining her nails.

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?"

"Come off it dude, you might look normal, but you're one of the weirder monsters here," Duece said, speaking up for the first.

"I," Jackson started to say, then deflated a little, "can't really disagree." Though he seemed a bit confused as to whether or not he was insulted.

"Um, I think I'm missing something here," Raven said, looking from one monster to the next.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Jackson said, leveling a small glare toward Cleo who ignored him entirely.

"So, what exactly do you mean by wolves that warrants them getting mentioned? Are they the same thing as werewolves, because we have plenty of those," Cleo said.

"Werewolves? What are those? Our wolves talk and can take human appearances." She debated a moment on if she should tell them about Cerise. On one hand she had promised to keep it a secret, on the other hand none of these monsters knew who Cerise was. She settle for talking about Mr. Badwolf instead. "It's not accepted for humans and wolves to be friends, but one of them teaches General Villainy at my school. He's actually fairy nice once you get to know him."

"You have a class on being a villain. Isn't that a little reductive." Duece frowned. "There's no way we'd have a class like that here. It'd totally undermine everything monsters are working toward."

"No villain classes? At all?" This school was sounding better and better by the minute. "But how do you prepare yourselves for your destinies?" Raven was now very curious about what her classes would be like.

"Destinies?" Frankie asked. The pieced together monster blinked a few times too many as confusion sparked off her bolts.

"Well yes. Don't any of you have predetermined destinies?"

"I don't like to think my future is predetermined. I prefer to think it is what you make it. Besides, how would we know what it's suppose to be? Do you all go to oracles or something?" Frankie said. She smiled at Raven, honestly asking. Raven was floored. A world without destiny. It was a dream come true. But she had to be sure first. Maybe they called it something else.

"So, none of you have follow in your parents footsteps by reliving their story?"

"Well, I am obviously destined for greatness, that is true. And having the good graces to be born to royalty will certainly be helpful, but make no mistake, it's my decision what I'm great in," Cleo said. She flicked her black and gold hair over her shoulder and somehow managed to strike a dramatic pose while staying seated. "But we can't all be lucky enough to be me, now can we?"

"Don't mind Cleo. She has a flare for the dramatic, but really she's a nice ghoul once you get to know her," Frankie whispered into Raven's ear while Cleo continued to preen. No one else seemed to have taken notice, or it was such a common sight to see that it wasn't worth the attention, so Raven shrugged it off.

"But what about your families origin stories? Aren't you all afraid of disappearing or the story being forgotten?"

"I think Mom would love it if her story was forgotten," Duece said forking some mystery meat into his mouth. "It's not even a little bite accurate. I mean, if she had been decapitated I wouldn't be here. And she says that Perseus was kind of a tool who took all the credit for saving that chick, even though it was Mom doing him a favor. He never did pay her back."

"So, if I'm to understand you correctly," Frankie began. "You're expected to do all the same things you parents did before you. And not just something like taking over the family business, but living their unlive? That sounds restrictive."

"Well yeah. They had to do the same thing. Each generation is expected to relive the story that belongs to their family. I'm the first person to ever refuse to do so." Suddenly she was very proud that she was able to say that to her new friends.

"That would be awful," Jackson said, his eyes went blank as he stared into the distant. He shook himself out of it. "Well, I wouldn't mind the mad science part, but I have no intention of bludgeoning a member of parliament to death and then popping a cyanide pill to escape the consequences. Mom's never done anything like that either as far as I know," a brief pause. "Actually, I'm not even sure that would work anymore. Chemicals don't necessarily have the same reaction on Jekylls as they do with other monsters or normies."

"Do me a favor and leave it a mystery." Frankie turned to him and gave him big pleading eyes. "I would hate for you to be wrong."

Raven turned to the It couple and said, "I don't want to know, do I?"

"Probably not," Duece said.

RQ

Raven finished the last of her thronework and flopped down onto the bed. Her new dorm room wasn't as spacious as her old one and was really plain, but that was okay. Tomorrow was the start of the weekend and Headless Headmistress Bloodgood had plans to go over several things with her. A crash course in monsterdom as it were.

She was also suppose to do some more paperwork that would sign her up for a financial aid program. This would provide her with the funds needed to get by until the mirror was fixed and she was sent home.

The longer she was here, the less happy she was about that prospect.

Her room may be furnished in gloomy decor, but she was promised that she could redecorate however she wanted. The classes she had a sit in for may have had grotesque sounding names like Physical Deaducation and Home Ick, but they weren't being forced to learn how to poison anyone.

The students were strange looking and had a variety of powers and abilities, but almost everyone was friendly and either used their abilities to help each other or to do mundane things, like the boy who lit the Mad Science burners with his finger. Of course, he also set his sleeve on fire, but that was hardly an act of evil.

Frankie was, as promised, excited to include Raven in group activities, introduce her to new friends and integrate her into their world. The ghoul was cheerful and contagiously optimistic. Her attitude reminded Raven so much of Maddie it was easy to relax around her. Though Frankie was much more down to earth and sensible, were as Maddie was always somewhere between reality and lost in her own head.

In fact, she had met several monsters who in some way reminded her of her friends back home. Minor appearance similarities aside, Jackson had been a lot like Dexter, there was mischievous werecat Torelei who would probably get along smashingly well with Kitty and a ghost who could give Blondie a run from the money when it came to gossip.

There were also plenty who stood out all on there own. A bubbly vampire, a fish girl with a strange accent, and a brother and sister who looked like a wolf had stopped halfway through transforming into a human.

She had even met the boy Jackson had warned her about. Holt was strikingly similar to Sparrow, the only thing that stood out as different being that Holt's mischief seemed to be more a product of his over abundance of energy rather than a nefarious plan on his part.

Still, there had been something else about him that had bugged her. All through Musical Theory she had felt as though she should have known him from somewhere else, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She hadn't met her knew roommate yet, but maybe the girl might know more about it. Actually, Raven looked over to the other side of the room, her roommate probably should have been here by now. It was almost curfew.

"Oh curses," she said, suddenly aware of a problem that had slipped her mind. "I don't have anything to change into. I guess I'll have to sleep in my underwear and hope I can do some shopping tomorrow."

She sighed as she pulled her top off, only to freeze as she heard a thud from the walls. Raven listened carefully for several seconds, then relaxed. She started to unzip the back of her skirt when she thought she heard a deep breath.

She waited a bit more, praying it was just her nerves. Or maybe there were rats, that seemed like something her temporary school would purposely have. All was quiet again, which really just made her more nervous. There wasn't a peeping tom in the dorms, was there?

She rezipped and reached for her shirt, feeling exposed now, and slowly made her way toward were she had heard the noise.

It was coming from her roommates side of the room. The other side of the room was cast in dark shadows with a variety of plants that left it smelling of a rainforest. A hammock was stretched between two large trees that had at first given Raven pause when she had been shown her room.

Something moved slowly through the branches, leaves rustled. She inched closer, holding her breath in anticipation of what she would find. Gulping down her fear, Raven stood on tip toes and spread the leaves apart.

She blinked.

The creature blinked back very slowly. It was the strangest thing she had seen so far. The animal had long arms, short legs, a wide, bald face with a small muzzle, large eyes and was covered in short, blue fur.

"Um, are you my roommate?" Really, with everything she had seen today, she wouldn't have been surprised. The creature just stared at her, cocking it's head to the side at a glacial pace.

"I'm Raven, pleased to meet you?" Still no answer. Raven ran her hand through her hair and shrugged. "Okay then. Well, I'm just going to go back to my side of the room." She backed away, trying to seem casual despite how freaked out she was.

As she was about to turn she heard a faint whisper. Raven turned around and eyed the creature, but it didn't seem to be the one talking. She listened intently.

"I am now unsure how to proceed. When one is meant to observe one shouldn't interfere with the course of things, yet I would very much like to sleep in my bed." the whisper said. It was coming from a vent.

Raven put her hands on her hips and bit the inside of her cheek lightly.

"Then why don't you come out of the wall and do so? I don't bite."

"Eep." the vent said. No move was made to do as she suggested. Well, this was certainly more familiar territory for Raven. She supposed it was only a matter of time before the monsters found out who she was and started being afraid of her. She just wished it hadn't happened quite so soon.

"Seriously, I'm really not a bad person." She walked over to the vent and peered in at the ghoul hiding there. "I promise I won't curse you."

"Oh, I know that."

"You do?" Raven couldn't really be blamed for being skeptical, seeing as how the ghoul was still hiding from her.

"Yes, I know quite a bit about you," said the ghoul. "Your name is Raven Queen. You come from another world were monster isn't a race of being but rather a moral designation. Your best fiend is a girl from still another world named Madeline Hatter. You are suppose to relive the life of your mother, but, forgive me for assuming, you're behavior when this was mention suggests you don't want to. You came here by accident and have adjusted quickly to our world. You like music and are insecure about your magical talents possibly causing harm to others."

"How do you know all that?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I observe all the goings on at Monster High." the ghoul said.

"Okay, then if you know I'm not going to hurt you, why are hiding in the wall?"

"Oh, a proper observer never directly interferes with those she is studying. That, and I'm very shy." This was said even quieter then the first part and the ghoul shrunk back into the vent.

Raven smiled in relief. The ghoul wasn't afraid of her, she was just nervous. "There's no need to be shy. If you come out of there we can talk normally. Then you'll get to know even more about me than you would just watching. Besides I doubt sleeping in the vent is preferable to sleeping in your bed."

The ghoul was silent as she thought this over. "Very well. Your proposal does have validity to it." The vent opened and a purple skinned ghoul slid out of the vent.

"So, you know a lot about me, but I don't know anything about you. What's your name?"

"Jane, Jane Boolittle."

"And what about your friend there?" Raven asked, pointing to the creature in the tree.

"Oh, that is my pet, Needles. He's a voodoo sloth." She gave him an affectionate look. "He doesn't say much."

Raven looked out the window and frowned. "I miss Nevermore. It would be a lot easier to take all this in if she was here with me. But she's back at Ever After High. I hope she's being good and not terrorizing the stable hands. She does that sometimes when I don't get to spend much time with her. Dragons are possessive and get moody when anything they view as theirs is gone for too long."

"I know how that is. I probably wouldn't have come here at all if I hadn't been able to bring Needles with me. But that's also a good feeling, isn't it? To know that out there somewhere is an animal companion who loves you that deeply?" Jane said wistfully.

Raven smiled at her, that was a good feeling. She wished Jane a good night and the two went to their respective beds. Thoughts of her friends and family back home filled Raven's head as she waited for sleep to claim her.

RQ

The morning came too fast for Raven's liking. She picked up her clothes with a frown and gave them the sniff test, hoping they weren't too bad off. Not that there was anything she could have done about it if they had gone sour.

Her roommate was already gone, off to who knew where. Probably crawling around in the vents some more. Raven had eventually gotten Jane to talk a bit more by asking about some of the students and rules of this world. Jane was a nice ghoul, if a bit socially awkward, and chalk full of information. She also tended to sometimes talk like she was narrating a nature documentary.

Raven got ready for her day and was just about to head out to meet with the headmistress when a knock came on the door. Thinking it must be for Jane she was surprised by what waited on the other side.

"Good morning!" Frankie as well as several other ghouls said. They were all smiles as they pulled her out into the hall.

Clawdeen, who she had met briefly yesterday, stepped forward. "So, Frankie told us all about your situation and I," she began but was interrupted by Draculaura clearing her throat, "we," Clawdeen corrected, "realized that since you came here on accident, you probably are in need of a new wardrobe. So we're here to help you out with that."

"But I don't have that much money. And for all I know, it's not even the same currency," Raven said, looking down in embarrassment. The school had provided her with the essentials last night, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush. That and whatever small things she had on her were all she currently owned.

"Oh, we're not talking about going to the maul, mate," said Lagoona, waving off the idea.

"Nope," Clawdeen said, wrapping an arm around Raven's shoulder, "We're taking you someplace even better. Draculaura's closet."

"But, are you sure you don't mind?" Raven asked the vampire.

Said vampire giggled manically. "There's no place better to find freebie hand me downs. I've got so many outfits I don't even remember half of them. That's a very real problem when you've been collecting clothing for 1600 years. But on the frightside, there are plenty to chose from for parties or playing dress up, or when your just feeling Londoom circa 1860 for a day or two."

Raven tried to imagine what a closet with 1600 years worth of clothes looked like as they began to drag her away.

RQ

It turned out her imagination was lacking. The shear size and breadth of Draculaura's closet was mind boggling. Raven was sure you could get lost in there for weeks. It had different floors, each with multiple halls and an escalator.

Right now most of them were in an area marked Scaris: 1840. They had lost Cleo and Ghoulia in Rome: 1790 some time ago; she could still kind of make out Cleo's voice from there. Everyone was having fun running through the racks, eyeing dresses and holding up gowns in front of mirrors. Raven had to admit, there was a charm to it.

"Oh," Draculaura shouted, "What's this doing here? This is 1920's Boo York. Ug, it's gotten so disorganized in here. I need to take a week or two to clean it up."

"How about this one?" Frankie popped out of nowhere with a goregous purple dress.

"Oh wow," Raven breathed out. "That's beautiful, but isn't it a little fancy for everyday use. I'm just going to be going to class, not an enchanted ball at the Charming palace."

Draculaura sighed dreamily, "I remember going to haunted balls. They were totes fangtastic. Endless tables of fancy desserts. Romantic music. Handsome boys who bowed to you and kissed your hand. Sometimes I miss it, but then the parties nowadays are much more upbeat." She did a little shimmy and pumped her hands in the air, dancing to music only she could hear.

"You know," Clawdeen said, taking the dress from Frankie, "with a little touching up here and there this could work. Yeah, I would need to adjust the waist here, hem up the bottom to here, drop the sleeves. You don't mind if I alter it, do you?"

"Go right ahead." Draculaura said from were her attention had been taken by a page boy outfit. "When did I get this?"

"Can I have this one?" Raven ask, pulling out a dress and holding it up to herself. "It's totally off the page."

"Pick anything you like. It's for a good cause."

"Really? You're too kind. Seriously, this style is in right now back in my world."

Draculaura stared off into space a little as she said, "I wish I could be swept away to another world. How exciting would that be? But only if Clawd and you ghouls were there with me." Then she eeped and apologized to Raven for reminding her that she was alone in a strange world.

"Didn't you just get back from the ghost world?" Lagoona asked her, handing another outfit to Raven.

"Yeah, but we were kind of busy with saving everyone from the Red Lady that we didn't get to take in the sites," Clawdeen answered her.

"So you guys regularly travel to other worlds here?" Raven asked. "We used to be able to do that too." She stared at her shoes miserably as she thought about why they no longer could.

"Sort of," Frankie said. "There's the ghost world which is kept mostly seperate from us, but there are portals to it that aren't hard to find if you know what your looking for. At least, now anyways. Then there's the normie, err, human world which is always connected to the monster world. They like, share the same space. It's kind of hard to explain."

"Sounds complicated."

"Not really. At any rate, the relationship between our worlds is less complicated then the relationship between humans and monster," Frankie said.

"Speaking of which," Cleo drawled out as she sneaked up behind Frankie. The flesh gollum shot off a spark in surprise. "Spill it ghoul, how did your date go yesterday?"

"It wasn't a date. Jackson was just helping me study for Mr. Hack's test on Tuesday."

"Uh huh," Clawdeen said, hands on her hips and a disbelieving stare sent Frankie's way. "And I'm sure you both needed it, what with both of you being Mad Science genius' and all. Studying was truly all you did." The sarcasm was heavy in her tone.

"It was." Frankie began to blush and spark more in indignation.

"Is that why you're blushing?" Raven couldn't help but ask.

Frankie tried to regain her composure, straightening her back and shoulders, but her bolts betrayed her embarrassment. "Father may have been a bit remiss with some aspects of the field when he programmed all my infearmation." She gave a little sniff and turned her head away.

"Sure, you tell yourself that. It had nothing to do with you wanting to spend more time with a certain bipolar halfbreed." Cleo said. A wheedling smile graced her lips as she leaned into Frankie's personal space.

Ghoulia raised a finger and let out a string of groans. Raven looked pleadingly to Lagoona who was standing closest to her.

"She said that he's not bipolar. Well, she said more then that, but honestly, when she gets too technical I can't understand her any better than someone who doesn't speak Zombie," Lagoona said.

Ghoulia gave a low moan and rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," Raven said, "but we don't have zombies were I'm from, so there aren't classes on the language. Until yesterday I didn't even know there were such things as zombies or mummies or what have you. Sure there's the occasional magical fish or talking frog. And we've got fairies and witches, but it's all completely different." She looked down at the small pile of clothes in her arms.

She was really starting to get homesick. "I think this is going to be enough clothes for now. If I'm stuck here long enough to need more, I'm sure I'll find a way to buy my own."

Suddenly she found herself with an armful of vampire, the clothes scattered on the ground.

"I'm so sorry you're stuck here," Draculaura practically sobbed. "It's totes not fair. You'd be having so much more fun if you didn't have to worry about not going home."

"I didn't mean to upset you. I'm having a lot of fun with you and you've all been really nice to me. I swear, I'm having the time of my unlife." Raven started at her own words. Had she really just said 'unlife'. What did that even mean?

"Do you really mean that?" Draculaura said, looking up at her with big, watery eyes. Raven smiled and nodded.

"Of course she means it, who wouldn't have the time of their unlife when they're around me," Cleo said.

"Yeah, she's even starting to talk the talk," Clawdeen added, prying Dracualaura off Raven. Raven blushed.

"I don't know why I said that. I'm pretty sure my heart is still beating." She placed her hand over her heart. "Yep, still alive."

"No worries, mate. All monsters talk like that. A shared lingo inspires a sense of community and helps bridge the gaps between species," Lagoona said. She helped Raven pick up all the clothes off the floor.

"Welcome to the club," Clawdeen said. Then added, "Let's get out of here and get something to eat. I'm starving."

And just like that, Raven found the worry about going home had faded just a bit more.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I started writing this some time before both Way to Wonderland and Boo York, Boo York came out. The story will not be compliant with either. Not that it matters, since Mattel doesn't really seem to care much about things like continuity.


	2. Chapter 2

Just a heads up: Book only characters from Ever After High are in this. For those that have not read the books, it would probably be best if you at least looked up the information on the Tale of Two Sisters and what it meant to Raven in the books. The short of it though, is that Raven is not the first student to defy the Headmaster and not sign.

* * *

Ch 2

The weekend had been a bit crazy for Raven, but it had mostly been the fun kind of crazy. She had been nervous at first about attending classes on Monday; thinking she was going to be stuck in a strange school with no friends, no money, and being behind in classes she had never heard of wasn't a promising way to start the day.

However, between her roommate, Frankie, and the headmistress, she felt she was reasonably prepared. After signing the last of the paperwork to officially register for classes, she had been given a small allowance as part of her 'displaced student' status. Apparently, she wasn't the only student who had popped up out of nowhere with nothing but the clothes on their back to call their own, so a fund was put in place to help those who found themselve up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

The sense of community in the monster world was amazing.

Because of it, Raven had found friends, a new wardrobe, and a sense of peace of mind about her predicament. She found herself smiling as she slipped into one of the dresses she had been given. The alterations Clawdeen made were perfect.

Sunday, when she had gotten her first little bit of money, she had been taken out to see the town and do a little shopping at the maul. She had picked out a couple peices of cheap jewerly to go with her new outfits, a mystery novel, some bathing supplies and then had lunch.

Frankie and company had been extremely nice and full of advice. She had even gotten a small lesson in Zombie, but it hadn't gone so well. She was signed up for Dead Languages, which apparently covered it, so she hoped she would pick it up better in class.

Raven hummed a little to herself as she left her room and headed across campus to the school. With all the help she had been given she was confident that it would at least not be a horrible first day.

RQ

"You're kidding right?" Raven asked. The girl sitting next to her, another witch, gave her a quizzical look.

"No, that's how it's always worked. Why would you think otherwise" the girl cocked her head to one side, then her eyes widened. "Oh, were you raised by humans? I've heard sometimes, when there's a monster in the family line, that the traits skips many generations then randomly shows up and the human parents don't know how to handle it. But I've never met a monster from such a family before."

She leaned in close to Raven, "Humans don't really know about magic. They usually have it completely wrong."

"Not really. I'm actually from a different world entirely. I guess magic just works differently here."

"It shouldn't," the witch said. "I've always been taught that magic spans all worlds, and while it may be handled differently in those worlds, it is always fundementally neutral. It should act however it is directed to act by the witch wielding it. I've never heard of someone who had 'evil' magic."

Raven looked down at her hands in confusion. She was in Biteology and the teacher had paired her the only other witch in the class. Wicca Spellman had been nice, but a little chatty and eventually the topic of magic use within class had come up.

When Raven had told her that she hadn't been planning on ever using her magic while here, Wicca had asked why. The ghoul had then laughted her ass off in the middle of class when Raven had told her it was because her magic was evil.

"Well, I used to be able to do all kinds of things with my magic," Raven said, "But then one day, it just started back firing on me whenever I tried to do anything nice with it."

"Hmm," Wicca tapped her finger against her bottom lip in thought, "I would talk to the headmistress, but it kind of sounds like you might have a curse."

RQ

"Well?" Raven asked the specialist. It was Tuesday after school. She had done as suggested and talked to Headless Headmistress Bloodgood on Monday after her classes had been done for the day. It had only taken one demonistration of what happened when she performed 'good' magic. A call had been made, then a second call, then she had been told to go to the nurses office after classes the next day.

Raven hadn't been able to sleep that much the night before and had sat on pins and needles the whole day. Had her mother really cursed her magic to make her evil? Raven wouldn't put it past her.

A witch was in the office when she got there. Raven had been asked to perform several small spells, things that were less likely to cause a lot a damage to either the room or herself, all the while the witch made little noises of concern or approval.

"Definitely a curse. The good intentions curse if I'm not mistaken. I've seen it a couple times before back in college. It's a small curse, usually used as a prank. But you've been under it for so long, it might take a bit more effort to remove it."

"But you can fix it, right?"

"Oh yes, it shouldn't be a problem. We can get started now if you want."

That was it? A prank curse had been causing her magic to blow up in face for most of her life? A stupid prank spell!

She had been made to believe she could only do evil magic all this time, when a simple counter curse would have fixed everything. Anger, sadness, and relief warred for dominance over her emotions.

"Yes! Yes, I want it gone as soon as possible!"

This explained so much. The reason she used to be able to do all kinds of fun or helpful magic, why that suddenly changed, why Ginger didn't have the same problem with her magic, even though both she and Raven were in the same boat.

Ginger's mom was supportive of her daughter. Ginger's mom hadn't tried to make her be evil.

The worst part was, Raven was more sad than angry. She had really thought that maybe her own mother had in some small part loved her enough to one day accept her for who she was. Apparently not.

It took two hours for the curse to be lifted. When it finally lost its hold on her there had been a sharp pain, then the feeling of being weightless. It was as if she had been held down by heavy chains her whole life and now they had been removed.

"That spell had a really tight hold on you. You might be a little bit lightheaded for a while. Take it easy and get some rest before you leave," the specialist said. "Try a few small spells after you've had some down time. If everything works right you'll be good to go on larger ones, but if there's anything off about them it might take a bit more time or another counter curse to right it."

"Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me." Raven smiled at the doctor, then quickly turned her head away. She really was happy, but at the same time she could feel the tears coming and didn't really feel like bawling her eyes out in front of a stranger.

"I'm sorry no one took care of this sooner. It could have become a danger to you and to others if left unchecked. I really would call the authorities on your parents if you were a normal student here, but

Headless Headmistress Bloodgood has told me about your situation. If I were you, I would seek outside help when you get home."

"I don't know what good that would do. My dad isn't magical, he believed what everyone else believed, that my magic was evil. My mom's...not around and hasn't been for a long time." Raven wasn't sure why she was covering for her, maybe it was because she was still clinging to the fantasy that her mother would some day be reformed, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell this witch the whole truth.

The specialist gave her a card and told her to call her office if there were any problems. She also gave her a card for a councilor, if Raven needed someone to talk to. Raven thanked her again for everything and then slowly made her way out.

She let her mind wander a bit, lost in thought about her home, her mother, her father, her friends both here and back at Ever After. How would this change everything? Would her classmates look at her differently? There was already so much that had been thrown into chaos when she refused her destiny.

What would everyone think when she came back to school and was able to do good things with her magic? Would it cause further division amoung the students? Would Headmaster Grimm expel her now that she really, truly had no reason to become the next Evil Queen?

"Apple will probably be devastated." Raven said to herself. She let out a heavy sigh and slide down the nearby wall to sit on the floor. Then a small smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. At least she knew that Maddie would be thrilled for her.

But no one else would really understand. No one else really could. The daughter of the Evil Queen was able to do good magic. No, was a good witch and could do good spells. There was no such thing as good or bad magic. It was going to throw the whole world into turmoil.

A creaking of hinges drew Raven out of her thoughts. She looked up and realized she had wandered into the storage hall again and was sitting next to the door to one of the store rooms. She was back in the same place she had been when she first arrived at Monster High.

The door next to her was opened, just a enough for someone to slip out. The boy hadn't seemed to notice her just yet as he looked down the hall before quickly exiting the room and closing the door. At first she felt he was familiar, but couldn't place him. Then it hit her.

"Jackson, what are you doing here?"

He jumped a little and gave a small shout before squinting down at her.

"Oh, hi Raven. I didn't see you there," he said after a beat.

"Obviously," she smirked at him a little. "Maybe if you were wearing your glasses." She let the suggestion hang, watching him turn red around the edges. He raised a hand self conciously towards his face.

"Yeah, that would probably help."

That was the reason she hadn't recognized him at first glance. He looked different without them, like someone else. The notion tickled the back of her mind, distracting her momentarily from her problems.

"Is everything alright? You look a little down," he said. She raised an eyebrow and felt her smile grow. "Bad pun. Er, you know what I mean," he said in frustration. He gave a grunt then plopped down to sit next to her. "So what brings you to storage?"

She turned and focused her gaze on a spot on the opposite wall before answering. "I just needed someplace quiet to think, I guess. So much is happening in such a short time, it's a little overwhelming."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Probably not." She looked down at her hands, it still sometimes shocked her to see them green, but she was getting used to it.

"Well, you don't know unless you tell me. Unless it's girl problems." He made air quotes. "You'll have to talk to one of the ghouls about those."

"No, it's not 'girl problems'," she said and watched him visibly relax. "It's just, coming here has really changed a lot of things for me. I don't know how everyone back home is going to react when I get back."

"I'm sure it can't be all that bad. Your friends will understand in time."

"Oh sure, Maddie will be supportive and probably the rest of the rebels, but the rest of world probably won't want anything to do with me."

"Rebels? Is there a war going on that you didn't mention, or was I just left out of the loop? Because if there's a war, that would be a good enough case for you to stay here." He looked genuinely worried about her, so she figured she might as well come clean. Besides, he seemed like the kind of kid who knew how to avoid talking about sensitive issues. Raven felt she could trust him to not gossip about her.

"If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?"

"Yes." It was said without hesitation and in such a completely straight forward manner that she didn't doubt it.

She took a deep breath and told him everything. Her whole story up to him finding her in the hall and then about the good intentions curse. He listened patiently, only asking questions if there was something that he didn't understand about her world. When she was done, she felt a little better, but the questions she had when she got here where still weighing on her.

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to make Apple upset, or to have Headmaster Grimm mad at me, but if the counter curse worked I don't want to use my magic for evil. And what would I even say to Mom? How do I bring that up? 'So, you know that curse you put on me, sorry I had it removed. How's Mirror Prison?' I can't even begin to imagine how that conversation would go."

"I don't know what to tell you about Apple or the headmaster, but that last bit is a feeling I can totally understand," Jackson said. "Believe me, it's awkward."

Raven looked at him, confused by what he said. "Your parents cursed you too?"

"Sort of, in way. But it's more, my mother passed on a genetic...trait, and they didn't bother to tell me about it. I found out from Frankie not long after transferring here."

"So what did you do?"

"I asked my parents about it and they just kind of brushed it off. I think they just didn't know how to talk about it, but it would have been nice to know that I wasn't crazy for most of my life. Or maybe I should say would have been nice to know the type of crazy I am. Either way, when I finally got Mom to talk about it she said she thought it was for the best. She didn't want me feeling like I didn't belong, the way she did when she had been younger.

"Parents don't always get it right, but I'm sure your mom was just trying to make things easier for you, the only way she knew how."

"Do you really think so?" Raven would really like to believe that sentiment, but lately she had been having doubts that her mother cared about her at all.

"It's possible," he paused a beat. "I'd like to think so. But that's just going off my own experiences. You know your mom better than I do. And at least your family is up front about everything. Of course, in retrospect, I probably should have figured it out on my own. The clues were all there."

The last part was said to himself, but it was loud enough for Raven to hear. It occurred to her at that point that she still had no idea what he was talking about. He still seemed perfectly normal to her. Which somehow made him weirder than the rest of the student population.

She gave a little giggle at the thought. "You know, Duece is right you are a weird monster."

He winced and rubbed at the back of his neck. Raven frowned, "Sorry, it was rude of me to call you weird."

"It's not that. I'm just not used to being referred to as a monster. They've only been doing that recently and I'm not really sure what caused it. Even after everyone found out about Holt they still used to consider me the normal one. Then one day, they didn't."

The mention of the blue skinned, music obsessed fire elemental triggered a flash of insight for Raven and she couldn't help speaking her mind. "That's the one!"

"Oh no, did he get us into trouble again?"

"No, no! It was just bugging me. Without your glasses you look a lot like Holt, but I couldn't place who you reminded me of until just now. Why aren't you wearing your glasses?"

His brows knit and an annoyed frown that was half pout settled onto his face. "That's to be expected, but I still don't like hearing it." Jackson's expression shifted to a more neutral one as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of mangled glasses. "I had a bit of an accident while looking for something."

The black frames were twisted, one of the ear pieces was just barely still attached and there was a spiderweb crack in the left lens. Raven winced in sympathy. Dexter had once tried to describe what he saw when he didn't wear his glasses and it had sounded like a nightmare. He had also told her how much frames cost, which while not a problem for royals could be an issue for someone who didn't live in a palace.

"Mom's going to flip her lid, which in my house has been known to lead to property damage. Though in this case, I'll probably just get yelled at a lot. Oh well," Jackson said.

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault. I should have been more careful. I'm lucky it was just my glasses. I'd be in trouble if I broke anything in there." He jerked a thumb towards the store room. "Some of the stuff collected at the school as been known to cause bigger problems then a scolding."

Raven shrugged her shoulders, being comfortable with not knowing all the details of those problems. That's when she remembered why she was in this hall to begin with. Her magic had been fixed, maybe she could repay him for taking her mind off her troubles.

"Um, if you don't mind, I might be able to help. I am a witch, a fix-it spell isn't that hard. Though, it might backfire, so if you don't want me to I understand."

He looked down at the busted frames and shrugged his shoulders, then held the glasses out to her.

"Why not," he said, "Even if you damage them more, it won't change that I have to get new ones." He playfully smirked at her.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Raven rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. She took a deep breath, reminded herself that she could totally do this now, and prepared the spell. Her hands glowed a soft lavender color, different from the dark purple she was used to, as she cast the spell. Instinctively she flinched, ready for the glasses to explode or melt, but instead she was rewarded with a amazed exclamation from Jackson as the glasses returned to their proper state.

He held them up, turning them this way and that before sliding them back on. He gave a small adjustment to how they lay and then looked around the hall.

"You know what, I think they fit more comfortably now then they did before. That is wicked awesome. Thanks!"

Raven's smile was so wide it threatened to burst right off her face. She had done it. She had done something magical for a good purpose and not had it blow up in her face.

The joy built up inside her so much she didn't know if she wanted to cry or laugh. She was finally truly and wholly free from the constrains of her destiny.

She found herself unable to contain it and in her giddiness Raven reached over and enveloped Jackson in a tight, spine popping hug.

"I did it! And nothing exploded!"

Jackson gave a nervous chuckle and Raven suddenly was aware of what she was doing. Quickly letting go, she scooted away from him. The blush burned her cheeks.

"Sorry." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at everything but the boy next to her.

"That's okay. I'm just glad you seem to be in a better mood now," Jackson said.

"I am. Thank you. You know, for talking with me. It really helped. And you know, letting me..." she waved her hand in the air between them.

"Hey," Jackson said, getting up and offering her his hand. "You know, I think that no matter how things turn out with your mom, that you're going to be just fine."

"Yeah," Raven said, taking the offered hand up. "I think so too." And she did. No matter what her future held, she really believed it would be a good one.

Because with that first bit of good magic, she had made up her mind to stay in the monster world. Forever After.

RQ

Raven paced the room, mind working overtime. What was the best way to approach the subject of staying at Monster High? She had to make her argument convincing, not just for the headmistress, but for her dad as well once they were able to contact him.

Maybe she could sneak into the office and break the mirror permanently. Then she wouldn't have to deal with it. No, that wouldn't work. Not only did she feel bad just thinking about it, but she would love to be able to see her dad and friends on occasion.

She turned to her bed, picked up her pillow and set it up against the head board. Taking a breath she practice what she should say.

"So, Madam Headmistress, I know you've been nothing but helpful in trying to get me home, but I was thinking that it's really too much. I'm fine staying here." She deflated. That was awful. "Headmistress Bloodgood, hi, how's it going. You've been working so hard on that mirror, why don't you take a break. It'll still be here later after your rest, in say fifty years or so."

She groaned in frustration before flinging the pillow across the room and flopping back onto the bed. "I going to stay here. One way or another."

Raven rolled over, pulled the sheets over herself and tried to sleep. Tomorrow, she would talk to Bloodgood. Even if it meant working for the school, she would find away to stay.

A pair of eyes watched her fall asleep. Once Raven was out cold, Jane slipped out through the vent. She looked to Needles, unsure what she should do with the knowledge that her temporary roommate was planning on becoming a permanent feature. Should she tell the headmistress? But it was really only her job to observe, not interfere.

Then again, she was suppose to be making friends, and friends actively helped each other. She would ask Frankie tomorrow. The stitched girl and her friends would know what to do.

RQ

"Raven, over here!" Frankie waved to her new friend. Raven navigated the busy creepateria over to the table. Clawdeen, Draculaura, Clawd and Jackson were joining them today. Though Draculaura and Clawd appeared to be lost in each others eyes and Jackson was muttering to himself as he scribbled in a notebook.

"What's up?" Raven said as she took a seat.

"You." Clawdeen said. A large smile played across her face. Raven shifted nervously.

"What do you mean?"

"A little jungle bird told us you were thinking about transferring here permanently. That's so voltageous, you won't regret it," Frankie said, sparking at the bolts. "This summer we can all go to Gloom Beach, and the maul, and there's dances and parties and creepovers. Oh, and usually at some point some of us will somehow end up in another country for a few days. It's so much fun here."

"Woah, hold up, Frankie. I don't know yet if I'll be able to convince my father to let me stay." She sighed and slumped forward, feeling like a deflated balloon. "It's kind of a big deal that I attend Ever After High." Raven glanced over to Jackson, who looked up and gave her an encouraging smile before returning to whatever he was doing.

"I'm sure we could convince him. We all go together with you to talk to him when they get the mirror working again."

"What I want to know," Clawd interjected, "Is what is so important about your old school that it's such a big deal. And I don't mean all that destiny stuff, I get that. I mean, the miss mystery thing you got going on."

"I don't have," Raven started to say, but Clawd cut her off.

"Yes, you do. There's something you've left out and if it's dangerous, then I want to know in advance. This lot gets into more trouble than you'd think. It'd be nice to be prepared for once."

Draculaura giggled, "Oh you," she said, scratching behind his ear. His sturn face melted away to one of bliss and his left foot started to bounce against the floor. "You're so sweet to worry about me."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes at the displayed, but did give an agreement with her brother. Raven found herself in the spot light. She had liked being just one of the ghouls here. Would they be upset with her when they found out? Would they kick her out of the group?

She looked nervously from expectant face to expectant face, everyone at the table waiting for her to tell them the awful truth. Her eyes landed on Jackson again. He had pushed whatever he was working on to the side and gave her nod and an easy going smile.

And she remembered, this wasn't Ever After. There was no destiny here, but what you make of it. There wouldn't be running away, there wouldn't be glares and whispers behind her back. No one was going to put kick me I'm evil signs on her back and no one would follow though with actually kicking her. That was why she wanted to stay here, after all.

"My mother is, was, is the Evil Queen in the Snow White tale. She the greatest evil that Ever After has ever known and the most high profile. I'm suppose to take her place after graduation. It's kind of a big deal. But I also refused to bind myself to the story like I was suppose to and kind of threw everything off and now there's two factions at my old school that are at odds with each other."

She realized that her explanation only really glossed over the problems, but telling the whole story twice in less then twenty four hours was a bit much for her. She played with her food on her tray nervously while her friends tried to absorb all that.

"Oh, and my mother kind of went off the page and stole roles from other villains and poisoned the magic of my best friends world, forcing her to be trapped in our world when the portal was sealed." She slumped down even further in her seat. "So I get dirty looks everywhere I go either because people think I'm evil for not following my destiny or because they think I'm evil because of my destiny."

There was a heavy silence that was followed by an "Ouch" from Clawdeen. "I guess it's settle then. We are definitely going to have to make sure you stay right here. All that crazy can't be good for you. I mean, yeah, there's prejudice against monsters here. No place is perfect. But here we are all about proving what you are doesn't dictate who you are. You get what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah, it's not right to try to force someone to go against their own nature. You could go nuts and turn into a split personality or something," Draculaura said. Hers eyes went wide and she clamped a hand over her own mouth. Everyone looked directly at Jackson except for a confused Raven.

Draculaura smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. No offense."

He let the mashed potatoes he'd been about to eat slide off the spoon and plop back onto his plate with an aggrieved look sent to the world at large. "None taken."

"Okay," Raven said, "I told you all my secret, now somebody needs to tell me what's up with him." She gestured to Jackson with a fork.

"We have Music Theory after lunch. I'll walk you there and then you'll know," Jackson said.

"You're not in Music Theory."

"Well, yes and no. Holt is," Jackson said, that same pinched look on his face he always got when the other boy was brought up.

"It's kind of a you have to see it, to believe it thing," Frankie added. "Trust me. No one believes it when you just tell them."

That was when something clicked in Raven's head. But that didn't make sense. Holt and Jackson had similar faces, but that was it. Unless, was he like Hopper? Uncontrollably swapping back and forth.

The bell rang, everyone headed to their classes. As they made their to the music room, Jackson pulled out a set of headphones and plugged them into his iCoffin, shifting through the music stored there.

Raven waited patiently as they entered class. The teacher looked confused when she saw them enter.

Jackson waved to her, hit play and promptly combusted.

"Alrigh'! Holt Hyde is in the house. Time to partay!"

RQ

"So," Raven began as she sat down next to Jackson in Mad Science the next day. "That was interesting. You know, one of the kids at my old school turns into a frog when he gets flustered. And there's a girl who can turn into a swan. You could have just told me, I would have understood."

"That's not why I don't like people to know. I don't think anyone means to, but they treat me different after."

"Oh, I can understand that too."

"Just do me a favor."

"Sure."

"If you ever need to talk to Holt for some reason, I'd appreciate it if you ask first. It's kind of unpleasant when someone just triggers the change without warning. Especially when they do it on purpose."

Raven winced in sympathy. She knew what it felt like to have people telling her to be someone else, but she didn't want to know what it was like knowing they could literally force her to be that someone else whenever it suited them. "You know I would."

RQ

"And then Maddie says, 'Of course not, I put it in the ballroom. Where else,silly.' It was a huge mess. It took all night to clean up."

Frankie laughed hard enough to almost lose her grip on the box she was carrying. Raven had been telling tales of her adventures back home. Some good, some confusing, others not so good, but necessary.

"I wish I could meet Maddie. She sounds like a frightfully clawesome friend." The girls were on clean up duty after Home Ick. Gathering up unused spools of fabric and thread and hauling the large sewing machines back into the cabinets. A feat made significantly easier now that Raven could just use her magic.

"She is. I'm going to miss her if I get to stay here. But if they get the mirror working, I'll still be able to see her. Maybe if we can get a hold of Humphrey he'll be able to work out a way to call her whenever I want. I'm sure Dexter would be willing to help convince him." Raven sighed a little sadly, thinking of what she would be losing by staying.

It wasn't the first time she had realized she wouldn't be able to hang out with her friends, but it was the first time it had really sank in. She wouldn't have Maddie suddenly bursting into her room to drag her off on some crazy adventure. There would be no more Cerise inviting her to watch wolf races in the woods, or Cedar spouting whatever happened to be on her mind.

No more Dexter smiling shyly at her from across the castleteria.

There would also be no more Grimm glaring at her from his office, no more Apple insinuating that Raven was just "confused" or that she would "change her mind". No more royals whispering behind her back about how selfish she was for choosing a different life.

She just had to keep reminding herself what if felt like to be pressured into being someone she wasn't and she'd be able to overcome her doubts.

Raven's thoughts drifted to her conversation with Jackson that morning. It was nice having someone who could relate to her internal conflicts in such a way. Sure, Cerise knew what it felt like to live a lie and Maddie, Cupid and Cedar were supportive, but none of them really knew what it was like to have so many people trying to make you into someone else.

Of course, she didn't really know what it was like for them to succeed so thoroughly either. A shiver raced down her spine at the thought and she found herself wondering if there was any way she could help.

"Hey," Frankie interrupted her thoughts. "Is something wrong? You got really quiet all of sudden."

Raven blinked back to reality to find herself staring at a spool of black thread. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just, there's been a lot on my mind." She paused a moment. "How come you and Jackson broke up?"

Frankie stalled up as the question caught her off guard. "It was a bit too much for me, especially for a first boyfriend."

"But I thought both Jackson and Holt were on the same page about you. It couldn't have been that complicated."

"Oh, they both liked going out with me. They just didn't like sharing the time. I suppose some ghouls like the idea of boys fighting over them, but the truth of the matter is that it's stressful when they demand you pick one over the other. Now imagine they are both the same boy." Frankie's eyes lost focus as she slipped into her memories. "They can't talk to each other in real time to work things out and I just couldn't handle being stuck in the middle, watching them yell at each other over video files."

Raven thought about it as she levitated the last machine into it's place. "I guess, when you put it that way, I can understand. Watching someone you care about literally fighting themself would be a bit much. But I wonder why he has so much trouble with it, I mean they are the same person, deep down."

"You know," said Frankie, "I've never really thought of them that way."

"Really?"

"I guess, the physical change and such a difference in personality makes it easy to forget. I kind of always just viewed them like they time share a body. But now that you mention it, they are, aren't they."

Raven locked up the cabinet and turned to Frankie. "I'm surprised, I thought for sure that was why you guys started to refer to Jackson as a monster too."

Frankie shook her head, "Oh no, that's not why at all." She looked up at Raven with the most straight forward expression Raven had ever seen. "You hang out with someone long enough, you start to notice the little things. Like how their favorite ice cream toppings are almonds and nightshade berries, and then there's the delighted little gleam in his eye whenever we have a really, um, "messy" lab in Mad Science."

Raven grimaced. They hadn't had a lab yet since she started, but there was one scheduled for Friday. An image of sweet, kind-hearted Jackson smiling psychotically over the dissected remains of something humanish, with a bloody scalpel in his hand flashed across her mind. She shook it away as Frankie put the last of the things away.

"And also, his driver license lists his species as beserker second class, so apparently he's always officially been a monster. But enough of my doomed romances. What about you? Is there a boy back home that you're about to leave broken hearted?"

They locked up the room and started toward the main hall. "Well, there might be one boy that I'll miss more than the others." Raven smiled wistfully, only for that smile to melt into a frown. "But it wouldn't have worked out anyway."

"Why not?" Frankie said.

"Dexter is a Charming, a long line of princes who's job it is to rescue princess', I'm not a princess. His parents never would have approved."

"But you are a princess." Frankie said, point blank and so matter of fact that Raven was nearly bowled over.

"No, I'm a witch."

"Well, yes, you are a witch. But you are also a princess. You're both, like Jackson is both monster and human."

"No, I'm not."

"Your mother was the Evil Queen, not the Evil Witch. Your father is the Good King, not the Good Wizard. You are a princess just as much as any of the ghouls, er, girls, whose parents couldn't or didn't use magic. Just because your mother did something that was considered evil, doesn't change the fact that she was a ruler or that you are set to inherit her throne. For that matter, why must you follow your mother's destiny? You have just as much right to your father's."

Raven stood in the middle of the empty hallway, speechless. She would need time to think about it. Frankie placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

"Hey, why don't we go to the Coffin Bean and talk about it over a drink?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

RQ

They found Cleo and Clawdeen at the Coffin Bean. The discussion began again, with Frankie giving a brief overview and Raven having to explain how she wasn't really treated like a royal at all by anyone.

"Well, I for one wouldn't have stood for such blatant disrespect. One call to Daddy and that headmaster of yours would be looking for a new job if he ever tried to disregard my royal status like that." Cleo sniffed, offended just thinking about having to sit with commoners when there was royal seating in an clawditorium.

"Different world, different rules, Cleo. Sometimes there are circumstances that you can't solve just by calling your dad," Clawdeen said. "But either way, it hardly matters now. Raven said she wants to stay here, so she won't have to deal with it anymore. Right?"

Raven smiled at her, "Right." She looked out at her new home. Monsters of all shapes and sizes went about shopping in the maul. From her seat in the Coffin Bean she couldn't see why she would want to go back.

The door opened and a vampire boy held the it for a harpy girl who giggled and blushed as he led her to a seat. She sighed, once again thinking of Dexter. They had only had one date, but it had been a lot of fun.

A bandaged hand waved in front of her. "Frankie said you think you can't be with a boy you like because his parents won't like it."

"Uh," Raven snapped back to the present to see Cleo glaring at her for not listening. "Oh, yeah, Dexter." She took a sip of her cappuccino to cover up her resigned sigh. Even if she was technically a princess, the Charmings didn't see it that way. She couldn't really expect Dex, who desperately wanted his father's approval, to turn his back on everything his family stood for. Namely, rescuing princess' from evil.

"Raven, speaking from my own experience, fuck 'em." The sudden blunt rudeness of Cleo's statement threw Raven for a loop. Judging from the shocked looks on Clawdeen and Frankie's faces, they were just as surprised.

"I," Raven began, only to realize she had no idea how to respond.

Cleo rolled her eyes at all of them. "Seriously, if you make each other happy, then they have no right to interfere. Letting anyone tell you who to be or who to love, it only leads to dark places. Sometimes, you just have to stand up for your man and vice versa. If you really mean anything to him, then he won't need parental approval."

"Wow, Cleo, that was really deep. You haven't been messing around with magic idols that swap minds again, have you?" Clawdeen leaned over and look her right in the eye, as though she was trying to find the little alien controlling the Cleo suit.

"Watch it! You almost dumped my coffee all over my brand new designer top!" Cleo shouted, scooting away from the knocked cup like it was full of acid. "It is worth more than your house!"

Clawdeen leaned back and smirked. "Now that's the Cleo I know."

Raven giggled, at the horrified look on Cleo's face as she continued to rant about her clothes. "It doesn't really matter anymore though, does it." She said, bringing everyone back on subject. "I'm not going back, so we won't be able to see each other anymore anyway." She gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug of the shoulder.

"Are you sure this is really what you want?" Frankie asked.

"Of course, it's great here! Don't you want to me to stay?" She hadn't really considered that, the ghouls had all been so welcoming to her.

"It's not that. You just get this really sad look in your eyes whenever you talk of home." Frankie said. "And it's a lot to give up. Your family, home, school, all the other friends you've known for a long time. And while our world might not have forced destiny, it's not all peaches and screams. The monster world and human world don't get a long and there is a lot of prejudices there. Even in the monster world, there's issues between werewolves and vampires, salt water and fresh water fish, even who is a "real" monster and who isn't."

"Well, no world is perfect, I suppose."

"You still have more time to really think about it. I for one wouldn't mind having another royal who is good at magic around."

Clawdeen sniffed, "Cleo, if she stayed she'd be the only royal good at magic around. Need we remind you about the last time you tried to use a magic potion. How did that end again? Oh yeah, one of the guys standing on a window ledge to escape from all the unwanted male attention."

"That was entirely Toralei's fault. She's the one who dumped it on him." She turned away, her nose in the air.

"I'm not even going to ask," Raven said. Frankie just shrugged, that was a normal day at Monster High for her.

Raven looked out into the crowds again as Cleo and Clawdeen argued back and forth and Frankie went to the bathroom. Was she really prepared to completely give up her life back home? She thought she was. She had been yesterday, she was sure. So what was different today?

She was beginning to feel like it was Legacy Day all over again, her self doubt that she was meant to take this path consuming her. She tuned it out by focusing on a lovely woman with dragonfly features and wings who was sitting at a bench just outside the coffee shop. She appeared to be waiting for someone and a moment later Raven was proved right when a small boy came running up to her.

Following the boy was another woman, this one more butterfly in appearance. The two woman embraced each other and the first tickled the boy's belly. Raven smiled, clearly the two were close.

"Look how big you've gotten," The first woman said to the boy, before turning to her friend. "I'm so glad you could make it, Brutta. It's been awhile since we had time to meet up like this."

The name Brutta sparked something in the back of Raven's mind. It was not only a strange name for such a pretty woman, but it was familiar too, but she couldn't place it.

"There's no way I'd miss lunch and shopping with my only sister. Besides, this little guy needed to get out of the house."

The little boy pulled at the first woman's arm, he was all smiles. "Auntie Bella, up, up," and he waved his arms, all four of them, at her. Ravens eyes went wide and the two names burned across her brain. She knew those names, but it couldn't be. Could it?

Without waiting to tell her friends what was going on she got up and ran out the door.

"Excuse me!" She shouted out to the two women as they started to walk away. They stopped and turned to her, twin confused looks on their faces.

"Yes," asked Bella.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but I have to ask. Are you the Two Sisters?"

RQ

The two women looked at the group of young ghouls before them as a waiter placed their drinks on the table. The ghouls were all attentive and wide-eyed. Bella and Brutta exchanged a look before starting.

"I must say, it's been a very long time since we've heard mention of that particular story," said Bella. "I had almost forgotten."

"It is quite a surprise to meet another person from the fairytale world here in the monster world," Brutta added. She looked down at her son, who was staring at the ghouls over the lid of his sippy cup. "I never expected to see someone from back home ever again."

Bella reached over and squeezed her sister's hand. "Me either." They looked back to Raven, "How has everyone been?" she asked. "Is Milton Grimm still the headmaster? Is he still pushing the whole destiny thing on everyone?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, that's kind of why I'm here."

The sisters smiled at her. "So, you ran away as well? We can't rightly say we blame you. It's why we came here too. Though, I must say, we were in for quite the surprise when we came though that mirror."

"I didn't exactly run away. I ended up here on accident, but I really want to stay," Raven began. "Wait, did you say mirror? I thought you went through a well?"

"Oh, we did. But that led us somewhere else. We had been through quite a few worlds before settling here. The well took us to Neverland and from there we went to a few others before finding ourselves in the mythological world which was closely connected to this one. But how do you know about the well?"

Raven smiled shyly and looked down at her hands. "I found your message in your story book. The one that says why you left. It gave me the courage to not sign the Storybook of Legends on Legacy Day."

The Sisters both gasp and leaned forward. "You really didn't sign? Then I'm glad we decided to leave the book." said Brutta.

"That is so brave of you, Raven. Grimm must of have been so mad. Did his face turn tomato red? It always turned tomato red when we'd make him mad." Bella said, a large smile on her face.

Brutta leaned back and laughed. "One time I thought for sure that vein on his forehead would explode. Who knew he'd get that mad over Bella giving me a makeover."

The two laughed, sharing delighted smiles. Raven noted that they had the same tingling laugh and the same sparkle in their eyes.

"Yeah, he still turns red when he's really mad, I should know. I've been the cause of it many times, but usually he just has this disapproving scowl on his face." Raven giggled at the memories, now far enough away from Milton Grimm to find the humor in it. "So you two were rebels then? I kind of thought that you kept it a secret that you didn't want to follow your destiny."

"Oh heavens, no," said Bella, she took a dainty sip of her coffee, which was mostly sugar and creamer. "We never made it a secret that we didn't like our story. Who could really. I can't imagine someone wanting to drown their own twin. We might not be identical, but we've been as close as close can be since before we were born."

"My dear Bella has always been kind to me. I can't remember a time when she wouldn't stand up for me when one of the other kids would try to bully me about being ugly."

"Especially since you weren't," Bella added. "My sister has always been beautiful. It's just that, in Ever After, people tend to see only what they want to see." She sighed.

Raven understood the sentiment all to well. So many of her peers wouldn't even try to get to know her before labeling her evil and running away.

"So, you don't regret leaving? That is a load off my mind." Raven said.

The Sisters shared a look. "Well now, we didn't say that," Bella began hesitantly.

"We miss Ever After a great deal. Every day. We loved our home and our friends. If we could see them again we would, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to find overall happiness," Brutta smiled at her son. "And we have both found happiness here, in the monster world. Together. We just regret living here less then we would have regretted staying at Ever After."

"What if you could go back to visit," asked Frankie. "You could show your world that you can find happiness without following a prewritten destiny. Would you go back then?"

"Well, if it was for a short while, it might be nice," Bella said. "But there is no guarantee that Headmaster Grimm wouldn't try to prevent us from returning in order to force The Tale of Two Sisters on us. But it would be nice to see mom again. To show her that we didn't end up like her and her sister. Never speaking to each other again."

Raven didn't know what had happened to their mother, or now that she thought about it which one of the two sister before them their mother was. But the fact that they still missed her after all these years was a bit real for her.

"Besides," Brutta added, snapping Raven out of her thoughts. "We have made unlives for ourselves here. I have a wonderful husband and Mothew here is my third. Bella has an amazing job as an attorney fighting for monster rights in human courts. We couldn't just up and leave it all behind. This is our home now."

"But," Bella interrupted. "That is just our experiences. You need to make the choice that is right for you." She reached over and patted Raven's hand. "If you decide to stay we'll help you out anyway you need. If you decide to return, you have our support. Just call me, if you want me to talk on your behalf." She handed Raven a card with the name of her office and the number on it. Then she flipped it on the back and wrote two different numbers.

"Our private phones, if you ever need to talk." She smiled, "it'll be pro bono. From a couple of misplaced fairytales to another."

"Thank you. I can't tell you how much this means to me. It's a lot to think about though."

"Of course," Brutta said, standing up. Her son resting his head on her shoulder, nodding off. "We have to be heading out now. It's this little grub's nap time. But the offer is always on the table, even if you just want to talk about nothing special, we'll be more than happy to listen."

Bella nodded her agreement. "You have plenty of time to think it through. Don't rush it and I'm sure you'll find just as much happiness as we have. No matter were you end up."

With that the two left. Raven looked down at her hands. Was staying here right for her, or would she end up regretting it? Would she end up regretting going back more? When the Sisters had agree to speak with her, she had hoped that getting their perspective would erase her doubts, but now she had even more.

A clawed hand rested on her shoulder. "You know, we're here for you too. And we'll support you no matter what decision you make," Clawdeen said, a fanged smile lighting her features.

"I know. Thank you. All of you. You ghouls are the beast," Raven blinked, "I mean best. Oh whatever."

The ghouls laughter eased the tension from her shoulders. She'd definitely have to think harder on the idea of staying, but it was nice knowing that no matter what, she had friends backing her up. An image of Maddie, Cerise, and Cedar came to her. Friends in both worlds, for that matter.

* * *

While I enjoyed the majority of Way To Wonderland, I was not happy about how they resolved the Storybook of Legends plot line or that they forced Raven to sign it in the end. It felt cheap and disregarding of the characters and the original message. So, yeah, like mentioned before, this was written before it, but any future stories will also be ignoring the majority of the movie.

I have other issues with what they've done with the story/characters, but won't go into them here.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

The weekend had been a lot of fun for Raven. On Saturday there had been a party at Cleo's followed by a creepover at Draculaura's and the next day a group date to a double creature feature at the boovie theater.

It had been Raven's first ever after creep, er, sleepover. By the time she had actual friends she was in boarding school, where everyone had to be in their own dorm rooms by curfew and she was uncomfortable inviting people over to the castle during the summer, so Maddie had never slept over.

Now she wished she had tried inviting her friend. The ghouls had watched cheesy cable tv and pampered each other with facials and manicures, followed by playing games all night long.

The next morning, or more like early afternoon, they had gotten together with the boys for the boovies. She had been hesitant at first to go, since it was mostly couples with Cleo and Draculaura hanging on Duece and Clawd respectively, and Frankie and Jackson doing their usual awkward not-quite-dating-but-totally-dating thing.

Clawdeen had made it very clear though that Raven was not going to leave her hanging as the third wheel, so she had reluctantly gone. The boovies were funny in their ridiculous portrayal of humans and outlandish over acting. Raven had enjoyed them immensely.

"So, where to now?" Clawd asked, jingling him car keys as they made their way to his car.

"There's a new store opening at the maul I've wanted to check out." Cleo's suggestion had just left her mouth when Raven's iCoffin rang. She answered, confused who it could possibly be, since anyone who would be calling her was already with her.

"Hello?"

Her friends all watched as Raven's eyes went wide. "Really? Are you sure? Yes, I'll be right there." She ended the call and stared at the blank screen in shock.

"Well," Clawdeen asked, bringing her out of her daze. "Are you going to tell us what that was about, or do we have to guess?"

"That was the headmistress. The mirror is working again. At least as a mirrorphone. I can call my dad and let him know where I am." Her voice sounded distant, even to her own ears.

"That's great news," Frankie said, then got a look at Raven's face. "Or is it?"

"I don't know what to say to him. I still don' t know if I want to go back or not."

"Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out," Duece said. "Besides, it's just a call, right. It's not going to whisk you off to Neverland, or where ever it was your from, so your plans don't have to be carved in stone just yet."

"Ever After," Raven corrected him. "And I know there's still a little time to think about it, but it's such a big decision and I thought I'd have time to figure it out before I have to plead my case to anyone back home."

"Maybe this is a good thing," Clawd said. "You and your pops can work it out together."

"Yeah, maybe."

Frankie wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulders. "It'll be fine. We can go with you to talk to him, if you want."

Raven looked around at all the reassuring and supportive faces of her friends. It gave her a boost of confidence that she sorely needed. "Yeah, I'd like that. If you all don't mind."

"Of course not," Draculaura shouted. "I'd love to meet your father. Oh, maybe if Headless Headmistress Bloodgood gets the mirror working for travel we can all visit your castle sometime!"

"Yeah, that could be fun," Jackson said, eyes lighting up. "I've never been to a castle that wasn't haunted or owned by a vampire lord."

"Sorry, to burst your bubble, but I doubt mine is all that much different from a castle in the monster world. Daughter of The Evil Queen, remember."

"Yeah, but it's still a fairy tale castle. I've been to a lot of different place in the human and monster worlds, but I've never been in the fairy tale world," He paused a moment in thought. "Would we need passports for that?"

Raven laughed. "Somehow I doubt that."

RQ

If the others hadn't been there with her, Raven wasn't sure she would have found the courage to call home. But with Frankie standing beside her, watching in awe as Raven tapped at the mirror and the glass turned foggy, it was surprisingly easy.

Raven held her breath as the fog cleared and her father's office came into view. It was just as she remembered it. Except for one thing. The person passed out asleep, glasses and crown askewed, over the oak desk was not her father.

She blinked in surprised, but before she could say anything in an attempt to rouse him, another familiar character walked into the room. The pink haired girl with feathered wings sighed as she draped a blanket over the boy at the desk, then looked up at the mirror and gasped in surprise.

But who she called out to was not who Raven was expecting.

"Oh fairy dust! Frankie Stein, is that really you? How in Hephaestus's name did you connect to Ever After?" The sudden shout caused the boy at the desk to startle awake and crashed out of the chair onto the floor, hitting his chin on the desk on his way down.

Cupid eeped and helped him into the chair, grabbing a handkerchief to dab at the cut on his chin. "Sorry, Dex. I didn't mean to scare you."

Frankie blinked rapidly and her bolts sent off sparks. Then she leaned over Raven's shoulder and squinted at the girl on the other side of the mirror.

"Cupid?! You look so different. I hardly recognized you. What are you doing at Raven's castle?"

"You know Raven?" Cupid lit up like a candle, turning from the still dazed Dexter to stare hopefully at them. Then she mimicked Frankie, staring hard through the mirror. "Curses! Raven, that is you, isn't it? How did you end up in the monster world?"

"Wait, hold up. You two know each other?" Raven looked at the two girls, totally missing the plot.

"Of course, silly," Draculaura beamed at Cupid, waving her hand at her excitedly. "She used to go here before transferring out." Then to Cupid, "So, you went to Ever After High? That explains why no one has heard from you since you left."

Clawd grumbled something that sounded like 'Good riddance', but Raven couldn't hear him that well over the ghouls all trying to talk to Cupid.

"Um, excuse me," Dexter interrupted them. "But could someone tell me what's going on?" He was looking back and forth between all of them, an adorably disheveled look on his face.

"Sorry Dex," Raven said. "Wait, what are you two doing in my father's office?"

"Raven? Wow, you look, different," Dexter took his glasses off and wiped them clean before putting them back on, as though making sure the green of Raven's skin hadn't just been dirt on his lenses. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He hurriedly added. "I mean, you look good no matter what color you are. Er, did that come out right?" He was steadily turning red as he babbled.

"It's okay Dexter, I know what you mean." She smiled and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, breaking eye contact as she added, "And thanks." She had kind of forgotten about the skintone change and suddenly found herself a bit self conscious about it.

"Hey, wait," Jackson suddenly said, breaking the nervous tension. "That's the guy you mistook me for when we first met? I don't look anything like him."

"Oh no," Clawd said, grabbing the other boy by the face and monsterhandling him away from the mirror. "You are not going down that road again. We hear enough of it from both you and Holt, we do not want to hear it over some dude who isn't even connected to you."

"Um," Dexter said. "Who was that?"

"Just a couple of new friends of mine. Some of them are bit complicated, but everyone has been really nice to me here." Raven said, smiling at both her new and her old friends.

"I am so glad you ended up at Monster High, Raven." Cupid said. "I can't think of a more welcoming school to misplace yourself at. Oh, we have go tell your dad, that you're here." She made to leave then turned back. "Well, not here, here, but there here." She took off after that, but her excited shouts could still be heard in the distance.

Dexter readjusted his glasses as he fidgeted uncomfortably, now that he was alone with a green Raven and some of the strangest looking kids he'd ever seen. Which was saying something for a kid who grew up around trolls and goblins.

"So," Raven asked again. "What are you doing in my father's office."

"Oh, it was my turn on Raven Watch."

"Raven Watch?"

"Yeah, we've all been taking turns waiting by the mirror here, in case, you know, you found your way back."

Raven looked down at her shoes. "Who all is we?" She was almost afraid to ask. She had been so concerned with whether or not she should stay here, that she hadn't thought much about how everyone back home was reacting her being missing. Had they really been watching a mirror in shifts, just in case she came back through?

"Well, let's see," Dexter began, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling as though there was a list there for him to read from.

"There's me and Cupid, obviously, your dad and Maddie, which is kind of obvious as well. Then there's Cerise and Blondie who take turns searching the forest. Apple and Ashlynn have been directing animals to help them. Briar and Tiny have been looking in the giant kingdoms. Daring and Nevermore are suppose to be doing aerial searches over the kingdoms, but I think they get distracted sometimes. Mr. Grimm has been trying every scrying spell he can find and Ginger as been to every witch asking around. Humphrey's been searching the network, trying to figure out what went wrong with the mirror."

He looked down and gulped, before adding. "We thought, maybe the Evil Queen somehow took you." He shivered a little at the mention of her mother. "I'm just glad that you seem to be alright."

A tight knot of guilt settled in Raven's stomach. All week, when they could have been enjoying their time home with their families, her friends were instead searching endlessly for her. And here she had been trying to find excuses to disappear into the monster world for ever after.

Now that was selfish.

"Oh Dexter, I'm so sorry. I had no idea everyone was that worried about me." Then something Dexter said registered in her brain. "Wait, did you say Daring, top of his class in dragon slaying Daring, was with Nevermore? My Nevermore?" Her voice may have gone a little shrill at the end there, if the werewolves and vampire wincing was anything to go by.

"Yeah, they seem to get along surprisingly well. I think they both like doing crazy midair stunts." As if on cue, a dark shape swooped rapidly past the window behind Dexter. An exuberant cry could be heard, followed by a dragon's roar of delight.

Well, at least someone had been taking care of her girl while she was away.

Before she could respond the door banged open and an excited Maddie shoved her face against the mirror.

"Raven!" She said, laughter in her voice, "You found yourself. Oh frabjous day!" She stood on her head in her excitement and Raven realized just how much she had missed Maddie's own unique brand of madness. "This calls for a 'Raven's Back tea party." And with that she pulled a table and steaming tea set out of her hat.

All around Raven, the monsters were staring wide eyed and baffled. "What just happened?" Cleo asked.

"My eyes are telling me something that can't happen just happened. Has someone been slipping me wolfsbane?" Clawdeen rubbed her eyes as though to scrub the insanity away.

Maddie laughed, "You can't rub insanity out of your eyes silly. That will just smear it around. You have to use cool, running water. But why would want to get it out of your eyes. The world is way more fun when you see through madness." And she made her eyes rotate in opposite directions as she said this.

"Why did she just say that?" Frankie said in a terrified whisper.

"Oh, she says random things sometimes, but she's really a great friend. Trust me."

The sound of her father's voice, out of breath and shouting her name, filled Raven's ears. He stumbled into the office and clutched the frame of the mirror. As his eyes locked with hers, he let out of heavy sigh of relieve.

"Thank the Good Fairy, you're safe. Where have you been? I've been worried sick." He had only stalled briefly as her change in appearance and he didn't question it, Raven's heart lightened, her dad knowing it was her at a glance made her realize just how much he loved her. He looked at all the ghouls surrounding her. "And who are all these, people, you're with?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. I wanted to call sooner, but the mirror was broken and it took sometime to fix it. But I've made a lot of great friends here and they've taken really good care of me." She smiled at everyone in the room with her. "Let me introduce everyone. Guys, this is my father and the tea obsessed girl is my best friend, Madeline Hatter. Dad, Maddie, these are my new friends from Monster High."

Her father looked a bit confused by this exclamation, "I don't understand, what is that?"

"It's a school for monsters that exists in another world that doesn't have destinies," Maddie explained, taking a sip of her tea as though it was perfectly normal information to know.

Raven almost asked how Maddie knew that, but knowing her as well as Raven did, Maddie probably didn't know herself or wouldn't give an answer that didn't raise more questions.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," the Good King said. "Let's just get you back here, where you belong."

Raven frowned, as soon as she heard it said she knew it was true. She did belong in the fairy tale world, but still the thought of returning to a looming destiny made her stall.

"The mirror isn't set up yet for travel. Just communication," Raven said. She rubbed at her arm, needing something to do with her hands. Magic was tingling at her finger tips. Her newly freed magic. What would they say about it? What would Headmaster Grimm do?

Actually, Dexter hadn't mentioned him. Just Giles Grimm.

"How mad is the headmaster about this?" She asked. Was she going to be expelled?

"I don't care what Milton Grimm thinks. As long as I have my little girl back, he can go kiss a frog for all I care."

"Dad!"

Dexter popped up over her dad's shoulder, "He was pretty upset. But mostly he muttered about how you always cause trouble and left the search to us."

Raven turned red with embarrassment. She didn't mean to cause trouble. Which was a cause of trouble in its own right, she supposed. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't.

"Raven," her father said. "When you come back, if you want to transfer to one of the village schools..." he left the offer hanging.

"Do you mean it?"

"I know how much you hate your destiny and when I thought I had lost you because of it, I realized that it didn't matter to me. It never did. I want you to be happy. In a way your mother and I never have been. You're my little girl, I want what's best for you."

"Thank you, Dad. I can't tell you how much that means to me." There were tears in her eyes. They had always been close, her destiny had weight just as heavily on him as it had her, but he had always been one to follow tradition.

She looked back at the monsters, conviction set in her jaw, then turned back to her father. "I'll be home as soon as I can. I promise."

Frankie squeezed her shoulder in support.

"I have so much to tell you," she continued. "You wouldn't believe what it's like here. There's no destiny to follow. You can be anything you want to be."

"Wow, really?" Dexter was still trying to get a look at her over her father's shoulder.

"Callooh! Callay! It's a world of Raven's. How mad is that? Hahahaha," Maddie said.

"It's totally off the page! I don't think anyone will believe me though."

She was almost drowned out by a influx of voices all clamoring at once to be heard, as the students of Ever After High piled into the room one after another.

"Believe what?" Apple shouted as she suddenly squeezed into the frame. "Oh Raven. You're green! Is it a curse?"

Briar could be seen pushing herself up Dexter's shoulders to see. "Love the new look, Raven! Totally Witch of the West."

"Fear not, dear Raven. For I have taken the utmost care of your beloved steed whilst you were away," Daring said, muscling into the front of the crowd. "You wouldn't happen to mind if I took her out, every once in awhile after you get back, would you? It is quite advantageous to drop down on ones enemy from above. And the fire is a nice touch too." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Raven where have you been? How did you get there? Can I interview you when you get back?" Blondie shoved through the crowd, only to be consumed by it a moment later, only the tips of her blue bow visible.

After that everything else was lost in a sea of voices as they all talked over themselves. She could only make out a bit of something Cedar said, commenting on Frankie's stitches.

Slinking around in the background shadows, Cerise gave a little wave. Raven waved back as Cerise scooted to the far back, clutching her hood to keep it from being jostled off by the crowd. If ever there was a rebel who could use a little extra boost in courage to openly be herself it was Cerise.

Raven was fairly certain Cerise would love to know that there was a place where she wouldn't have to hide who she really was or what she could do. But right now Raven needed to stop the overwhelming noise.

"Woah, everyone. One at a time. I can't understand anyone when you're all talking at once." But her own voice was lost in the chaos.

A loud clap shut everyone up on both ends. Giles Grimm stood with Humphrey Dumpty at his side, "And now that I have your attention. I believe it would be a good idea to talk with the mirror technicians on the monster's side. With their help I believe we should be able to get the mirror up and running smoothly in no time."

"Check it, lores and ladies. It won't be no thang for M.C. Dump T." Humphrey said. From behind her, Raven heard a nasally groan. "Ugh, not another one." Clawd gave a sniff. "You know what, complain all you want about that one."

Raven ignored them as Giles made his way closer to the mirror. "Feather's are fair, if leaves be." After years under a babble curse, he still sometimes slipped into Riddlish without meaning to. Raven gave it some thought, then smiled. "Reflections fade where paths part."

Maddie squealed in delight. "You're getting really good Raven. Why, we'll have you talking proper nonsense in no time."

"Thanks Maddie. Compared to Zombie, Riddlish is crumpets and cake."

"Was that a language? How is that easier to understand than Zombie?" Cleo said. Raven could picture the look on her face, and tried to cover her laughter with a cough, but it just came out as a snort.

Giles cleared his throat, "My apologies, I hadn't meant for it come out like that. All the same, we should get to work, if you are to be home in time for school to start."

"Oh, of course, Mr. Grimm."

"I'll go tell the Headmistress," Frankie said. She headed out, Draculaura and Clawdeen trailing after her.

Raven answered a few more questions until they returned with a goblin and a man with four eyes, they were both wearing shirts that said Shreak Squad. Raven moved out of the way while Giles and Humphrey consulted with the tech monsters.

"So, I guess this is it, then," Raven said. She studied her shoes so she wouldn't have to look them in eyes, feeling like she was abandoning them and all that they had to offer.

She belonged in her world, that was were her happiness lay, she knew that to the fairy core of her being, but she still wished she didn't have to give up all that her new friends had given her.

"Are you sure?" Frankie asked, genuinely concerned for her.

"Yes." Raven sighed and finally looked up. "I just wish I didn't have to leave you all behind. You ghouls are the beast friends a witch could ask for. But this isn't my world."

"We'll still be your friends. And it's not like their going to just shut the mirror down. You could always come visit," Clawdeen said.

"Oh! Or better yet," Draculaura began. Clawd groaned again. "Here we go. Adventure time," he mumbled. Draculaura whapped him with a rolled up student flyer and continued, "We could go with you."

"Huh, you mean, like, now?" Raven asked, surprised by the suggestion.

"Sure, why not. It wouldn't be the first time we've disappeared into another world. Only this time there are no megalomanacial principals trying to take over the world, or carnies trying to kidnap monsters, or vampire lords trying to steal the throne or normies framing us for vandalism or..."

"Okay," Raven said, bring an end to the stream of crazy. "I get the picture." She thought about it for a minute, the idea did have some merit. She had gotten to see their world, it could be fun showing them around hers.

They were all looking at her expectantly, like she had the power to authorize the trip. Even Clawd, who had mere moments ago been griping about the trouble they'd get in.

"I suppose, as long as your families don't mind. I don't see how it could hurt."

RQ

It took three hours to get the mirror functioning as a proper travel mirror. Raven knew it was working when her reflection changed from green back to her usual pale cream complexion. In that time, Frankie had some how managed to convince the last of the parents to let her friends come with her.

Most were surprisingly okay with it, only the Wolf's had needed a real talking with. Raven hadn't really met any of her new friend's parents, but still she had thought they would have been more hesitant to let their children run off to a different world.

"They've gotten used to us running off on adventures, so it's not like they don't know we can handle it." Clawdeen explained when Raven asked.

"You guys are going to have tell me about some of them some time," Raven said.

"You bet," Clawdeen smiled. "Where the hell are Cleo and Draculaura?"

They were the only two not back yet. Almost as though saying their names had summoned them, they both walked through the door. Following behind them was a mountain of boxes.

"Sorry we're late," Draculaura said by way of greeting. "But I couldn't decide between the purple blouse with the ruffles or white one with the lace trim."

"Um, D," Clawd said, looking at all her luggage then to his own small bag. "You do know we are only going to be there a day or two tops, right? What do you need with all that stuff?"

Duece just raised a brow at Cleo, who hadn't even tried to make an excuse for being late. She tsked at him.

"I'm going to a new world, where I'll be representing all of monster kind. I have to make the right first impression. Obviously."

Draculaura giggled at Clawd. "Exactly. And you never know what could happen. There could be a party, so I need a couple party dresses; or a natural disaster, so I need some sturdy shoes and pants, but they still have to all match, or I could get caught in the rain," she said. Clawd cut her off.

"Okay, we get it. You wanted to be prepared for anything. All I'm sayin' is that much luggage is probably not going to fit through the mirror. It's only a standing mirror." He pointed to the mirror, which was only wide enough for one person at a time.

"Sorry, but Clawd's right. You guys are going to have to cull the herd there," Raven said. "It's best if you only take one suitcase through a mirror, or most of it will get lost on the way."

The horrified looks on both ghoul's faces was all that anyone needed to know their opinions on the matter.

It took another two hours to get the luggage sorted out, a task that was ended abruptly when Clawd and Duece both each grabbed one random suitcase of their own ghoulfriend's, looked inside long enough to see the most essential items were present, proclaimed it the bag for the trip and chucked it through the mirror.

"I guess that settles it," Frankie said. She had one suitcase.

"Let's hope those went to the right place," Jackson said. He only had a small duffel bag.

"They had better, or you are in a lot of trouble mister," Cleo said, poking her finger into Duece's chest with every word.

"It should be fine," Raven said. She had packed what few belongings she had collected since her arrival into a large backpack. "Let's go."

She reached out a hand to the nearest ghoul, Clawdeen. Clawdeen paused a moment at her reflection, startled by the difference.

"What happened to my ears," she reached up to feel that she still had them. Her reflection looked far more human then she had ever seen it.

"It'll be okay, I changed a bit when I came here too."

Reassured, Clawdeen stepped through the mirror. One by one, her friends followed.

Raven looked to Headless Headmistress Bloodgood, who had her head resting in the crook of her arm.

"Thank you so much, for everything." Raven gave her a quick hug, and went home.

* * *

The end. Well, for now. I guess this means I have to start writing the sequel now. I should have already started it, but work and life have kept me busy. Look for that in a few months. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. - Spina


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